Help with a Whitman & Barnes adjustable wrench

[markhrobinson]

I picked up a monster 21 inch Whitman & Barnes adjustable wrench without a patent number or anything except on one side of the fixed jaw the brand Whitman & Barnes with 'Chicago USA' underneath, and on the other side of the fixed jaw W & B Co in a diamond pattern, with the words 'Made in USA' and 'Warranted' underneath.  I have attached a photo to show the mechanism.  Im looking for any info on a date, and any thoughts on value.

[gibsontool]

As far as I know that's a very common wrench, but a little unusual to find in that size. As far as value goes I'd Guess Maybe $15 tops. I have 3 or 4 in that size but I'm not sure of the brand 

[Papaw]

Made by Whitman & Barnes probably after 1928 when Bemis & Call bought the manufacturing and selling rights to the COES wrench line, but patents had run out on some, so W&B could make them and mark them as "COES PATENT" wrenches. Nice find of a 21" model. Looks like the TAFT patent of may 4, 1869 and shown in American Machinist 1881.

[mvwcnews]

W&B was making these generic monkey wrenches through the early 20th Century -- I'm not sure how long after the W&B / J.H. Williams merger in 1920 the W&B brand lasted.  I think Williams phased out all the old fashioned slow selling lines as quickly as on hand stocks were exhausted.

[Bus]

Monkey wrenches can be found dual marked with the Whitman & Barnes logo and Williams and they can also be found with just the Williams markings.so evidently they did continue making monkey wrenches for some time after Williams purchased the wrench part of Whitman & Barnes.  I would guess that markhrobinson's wrench was made before the buyout. Cope's book shows a 1910 W&B catalog with monkey wrenches like markhrobinson's.

[markhrobinson]

Thanks for all the help - I'm very pleased to have discovered this forum!

[Papaw]

Glad to have you, Mark.

Be sure to check out http://www.wrenchingnews.com/ hosted by Bus Haury, and look into joining The Missouri Valley Wrench Club.
Another source for wrench identification is  http://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artifacts/  Alloy Artifacts.

[Lewill2]

Mark, if you go to the wrenching news website at the bottom of the page is a listing of links to past MVWC auctions. There are pictures and descriptions that are a wealth of knowledge. You can purchase prices realized lists for some of them too.